In what proved to be the defining moment of the match, the visitors were awarded a controversial penalty on the hour when Laurent Koscielny looked to have won the ball in his challenge with Gabriel Agbonlahor, before Christian Benteke netted from the spot.

The France defender, booked for his challenge, was then soon shown a second yellow by Taylor for clattering into Andreas Weimann.

Wenger was left perplexed by the whole series of events in a match which was also notable for featuring the first use of the Premier League's new goal decision system (GDS) when a 52nd-minute effort from Villa midfielder Fabian Delph struck the inside of the right-hand post and rolled across the line.

"I didn't like his performance, but more than his performance I didn't like his spirit of how he refereed the game," Wenger said of Taylor.

"I didn't like the fact the way the game was refereed and this is a deeper question that just one decision.

"I don't like to lie, I didn't like what he did.

"The linesman said he to me he did not give the penalty and he was at the level of the tackle, so why does the referee who did not give the penalty straight away suddenly give the penalty? That is what is amazing to me.

"I would understand if the linesman said it was a penalty, but you have to live with that and just because you get these decisions given against you that doesn't mean you should go on to lose the game."